The options to buy locally grown food are increasing with more community supported agriculture programs available and Green Top Grocery closer to becoming a reality. (Carrie Muehling/WJBC)
By Carrie Muehling
BLOOMINGTON – Support for local food systems continues to grow in Central Illinois.
In addition to a very strong farmers market presence in McLean County, local farmers also offer community supported agriculture programs and a cooperative grocery store focused on local food is getting closer to opening its doors in Bloomington-Normal.
“We have two significant milestones ahead of us. One is selecting a location. We were hopeful to have a location selected by this time, but sometimes the stars don’t quite align like we think they will. But we think that will be happening sooner rather than later. And then after that, our next goal will be to hit 800 owners, and at that point we’ll hire a general manager,” said Katie Novak, outreach manager for Green Top Grocery.
Green Top Grocery will be owned by community members and is in the process of recruiting owners, with nearly 700 on board right now. Ownership requires a one-time $200 investment, as well as an application available both digitally and in paper form on the Green Top Grocery website.
The group has done studies to ensure that Bloomington-Normal is a good market for a cooperative grocery store, and overwhelming evidence suggests it is. Another study honed in on specific locations that might be available. That decision is taking longer than expected because there are a number of good options.
“We are just taking our time to make sure that we pick the right location for our owners, because we are opening this store for our community and we have to be very sure that we pick the best location possible,” said Novak.
In the meantime, locally grown food is already available through farmers markets and CSA programs offered in the area.
“CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Some people will call it a community share. But, basically what it is, is some of the farms set a CSA up and the customers can then purchase a share of the farm’s production each week and take home a basket of goods with that money paid up front,” said Marisa Brooks, manager of the Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market.
Offering a CSA provides a more dependable income source for farmers as the dollars people invest early in the season can be used for spring and summer planting. An upcoming CSA Fair on Sunday, Feb. 22 from 5:30 -7 p.m. at Fleet Feet Sports in Bloomington will include five area farms offering programs this year. Catering will be provided by Epiphany Farms Restaurant, featuring food currently available from those farms.
Winter indoor farmers markets continue the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington through April. Opening day for this year’s Downtown Bloomington outdoor market season is Saturday, May 2 from 7:30 a.m. to noon on the square in Downtown Bloomington.
Carrie Muehling can be reached at [email protected].
